The most popular sport of the middle ages is back: professional jousting. That’s right, the classic sport of knights and horses is seeing a new Renaissance. “Cowboys are modern day knights,” said Charlie Andrews, who is best known for the series “Knights of Mayhem” on National Geographic Channel.
Andrews, who has a farm in Eagle Mountain, was working as a horse trainer in Hollister, California, when one of the horse owners took notice of him. “The lady knew a guy that was putting together a jousting troupe, ” Andrews explained. The troupe was planning to go on tour to various Renaissance fairs. After watching him ride, the jousters asked Andrews to join the troupe.
Andrews decided to give it a try, going what he refers to as a “theatrical style troupe,” and traveling to the Michigan Renaissance Festival. The troupe put on a medieval style show with plenty of sword play and even breakaway lances. “I loved it,” Andrews said. “They get five to six thousand people at a show each time. So it was an incredible experience. All of these people were going crazy and cheering and having fun.”
After going on to “Knights of Mayhem,” jousting has become Andrew’s passion, and he is now on a crusade to legitimize jousting as a professional sport. He sees jousting as “the UFC on horseback.”
“Everybody loves horses. Everybody wants to be a knight,” Andrews said. “Little boys wanna be a knight, little girls wanna be a princess, they come out. That’s cool.” Andrews added that some little girls want be a knight, and some little boys want be a princess. “Right on, come on out,” he said. “Come enjoy the show and watch us joust.”
Andrews believes that the only thing preventing jousting from hitting it bigger is a simple matter of money. “Somebody’s gotta buy the armor, somebody’s gotta train the horses,” Andrews said, who adds that six million people per year attend Renaissance fairs. But Andrews is emphatic that he does not want to build up the sport just so he can make all of the money, asserting that is the promoters and owners who make most of the money in sports these days, and he wants to change that dynamic. “You wanna be entertained, we’ll entertain you,” Andrews said. “But I want my guys to be paid for it.”
Meanwhile, Andrews and his horse, Jägermeister, will keep doing what they do best.
You can check out Charlie Andrews who will be presenting a jousting event in the Grand Stand at the Salt Lake County Fair on Aug. 14th 2015.
